Story & Photos by Gina Bourdage
Community members and local business owners stepped up to raise $1,675 for the completion of Highline Medical Center’s new ER at the “Red Wine & Decadent Dessert” event Wednesday night, Feb. 10th.
This event was the brainchild of local business owners from Mark Restaurant, WLB Advertiser E.B Foote Winery and OptiMark Eye Care. This event allowed attendees to sample some of the great things our community has to offer as well as enjoy an evening among friends.
“We are glad to see such a great turn out, especially in this economy.” said Renee Klein, Executive Director, Highline Medical Center Foundation. “There is really something to be said about the energy in this room and seeing people enjoying themselves. This event speaks to the character and uniqueness of our community to see people come together, showing that this community is truly unlike any other.”
Amongst the warm candlelit setting of the Mark Restaurant, the evening highlighted a raffle drawing for a table full of generous community items including everything from baskets of gardening supplies, a romantic valentine inspired package and art work and more. Guests also were treated to a number of wines from the E.B. Foote Winery and a plate of indulgent sweet treats brought by Mark Restaurant and OptiMark Eye Care.
Originally built to serve 12,000 patients per year, Highline’s Main Campus ER now serves nearly 47,000 –– making it one of the busiest in the state. According to their website:
When a health emergency strikes, you need advanced care. And you need it fast, which is why a new ER is so critical. While we have made significant investments in expert staff and advanced technology over the years, there are simply too few treatment rooms for the number of patients. Ambulances are sometimes diverted to other hospitals farther away, because we simply don’t have enough capacity, according to www. lifedependsonit.org.
“…Highline Medical Center receives no tax support, i.e., we are not publicly funded. Yet, we are a not-for-profit hospital. The new Emergency Room and Patient Care Unit is a $60 million project, most of which is funded through bonds and reserves. But a $10 million capital campaign is needed to help complete the funding. The community has responded, and to date we have raised $5.4 million. But we still need more to reach our goal, and are so thankful for those individuals and businesses who have stepped up!” – Renee Klein
“We are truly grateful for the Mark Restaurant, OptiMark and EB Foote Winery. This was truly all their idea,” added Klein.
In addition to the three businesses that planned the event, many others donated time, products and/or gift certificates, and those businesses include:
- Market Place Salon
- Levich Agency
- Archery Bistro
- Bison Creek Pizza
- La Costa
- Purple Café’ & Wine Bar
- Artist Warren Knapp
Here are some photos shot at the event by Gina:
by A few years ago, when I worked as a volunteer in the Emergency Department at Highline Medical Center, the waiting area usually was filled with patients and family members well into the evening.
Patients waited, as they still do, for their turn to be screened in a single triage room, then waited longer for a treatment room to become available. That’s not surprising since the crowded Highline Emergency Department, designed to handle 12,000 patients a year 50 years ago, now provides care for nearly 50,000 patients annually.
But all this will change soon. Construction of a new state-of-the-art Emergency Department that will triple the size of the current facility is nearing completion – on time and on budget. When its doors open to patients on April 13, waiting times for triage and treatment will decrease dramatically.
The new patient-friendly facility also will improve exponentially the convenience and efficiency of the working environment for physicians, nurses, radiology and lab technicians, and everyone else who contributes to the care of Highline’s emergency patients.
B-Town Blog photographer Michael Brunk and I joined a tour of the new Emergency Department on Jan. 19 – shortly after the end of major construction activity as the finishing process got underway. No equipment or furnishings had yet been installed.
Even at this incomplete stage, however, one thing was immediately apparent – the new Emergency Department is a magnificently awesome improvement over the current emergency facility.
Highline Medical Center CEO Mark Benedum described it well: “a facility that’s up to the care the staff’s been providing.”
Benedum said planning for the new Emergency Department began in 2005, with the start of construction on the $60 million project (which includes a new 31 bed Patient Care Unit) getting underway in 2008.
Highline Medical Center’s service area extends from West Seattle to Federal Way and from Tukwila to Vashon Island, and most of its emergency patients come from this region – as well as persons driving along Interstate 5 and both passengers and employees at Sea-Tac International Airport.
Combine the size of this service area with its population growth in the last two decades and it’s easy to see why the aging emergency facility is overcrowded, noted Renée Klein, Executive Director of the Highline Medical Center Foundation.
The differences between the current facility and the new Emergency Department are strikingly apparent the moment one walks into its main entrance, which is on the west side of the medical center not far from the current emergency entrance.
The interior is bright and airy, with large windows that provide ample natural light, as well as spacious – 27,000 square feet compared with the current 9,000 square feet. In fact, the main nurses station area, well inside the Emergency Department, looks as if it could hold the entire existing facility.
Just beyond the reception desk are three private triage rooms, which will speed evaluation of patients, reducing their time in the general waiting area. Patients then will be taken to any of the 32 large, private treatment rooms, where admitting can be done at bedside.
Every room is universally equipped – “hardwired” – to handle any emergency. Two of the rooms are dedicated for pediatric care. The current facility has 19 beds, only eight of which are hardwired.
The ambulance entrance – with an ambulance bay that can accommodate about a dozen emergency vehicles including police cars – is on the north side of the Emergency Department. Two trauma bays for serious emergencies such as heart attacks are immediately inside. Each is designed to handle two patients if necessary.
Two diagnostic imaging rooms – one x-ray, the other CT, both dedicated for emergency patients – and a separate diagnostic imaging waiting room are located just beyond the triage rooms.
In addition, there are two seclusion rooms for psychiatric and other patients who require additional security, an isolation room for highly contagious patients, a decontamination room with an outside entrance for disasters and contact with hazardous materials, a separate area for first responders – emergency medical and law enforcement personnel – to write their reports, and a private family consultation room.
Designed byNAC Architecture, the Emergency Department was planned “from the physicians’ and nurses’ point of view” to provide “rapid treatment,” Klein said. The general contractor is GLY Construction .
One floor above the new Emergency Department is a 31-bed Patient Care Unit for medical and cancer patients. (Look for a report on this unit on the B-Town Blog soon.) Beneath it is a parking garage for those going to the Emergency Department.
The grand opening of the Emergency Department is set for April 9-10, and will include an open house for the public.
Klein noted that while most of the cost of the new facility was paid through bonds and capital reserves, only $5.4 million of a $10 million capital campaign has come in or been pledged. “I’m optimistic that the community will help us with that last amount,” she said.
Highline Medical Center receives no tax dollars for capital expenses and general operations, and relies largely on grants and pledges. If you would like to learn more about how to support Highline’s Campaign for a New ER, log on to www.LifeDependsOnIt.org or call the Foundation office at 206.901.8500.
Here’s Michael Brunk’s Photo Slideshow of the facility:
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On Thursday, Jan. 21st, several local restaurants will be hosting “Dine For Highline,” where a percentage of proceeds will be donated to Highline Medical Center’s “Campaign for a New ER.”
Originally built to serve 12,000 patients each year, Highline’s current ER now serves nearly 45,000, making it one of the busiest in the state; obviously, a new, state-of-the-art ER is required.
Here’s info from their press release:
Mark your calendar for January 21st!
On Thursday, January 21, several local restaurants are hosting Dine for Highline, whereby they will donate a percentage of their proceeds to the hospital’s Campaign for a New ER.
These generous businesses know that having a great community means having a great hospital, too, and that’s why they are supporting the campaign.
Now let’s show our support for them, while enjoying a fabulous meal!
Currently participating restaurants include:
- Archery Bistro
- Emerald City Smoothie
- Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub
- Sal’s Deli
- 909 Coffee and Wine
- Mark Restaurant and Bar
- Yo’s Bistro
- Sidestreet Kitchen and Bar
- Angelo’s of Burien
- Australian Pie Co.
- Tin Room Bar
- La Costa Restaurant
- Bison Creek Pizza
- Vino Bello Wine Bar
Here’s info on the campaign from Highline’s website:
A State-of-the-Art Facility
With support from the community, Highline Medical Center is building a 27,000 square feet, state-of-the-art ER housed in a new three-story building on its Main Campus. It will be equipped with the very latest advances in medical technology and staffed by an expert team of board-certified physicians. It is designed to make ER visits faster, to reduce stress and to enhance comfort for patients and their families at every stage of care:
- Three private triage rooms
- Bedside registration
- Sophisticated electronic patient tracking system
- Family consult room
- 32 private treatment rooms, with room for family members
- Dedicated decontamination room for disasters
- Diagnostic imaging within the ER
- Electronic medical records
- Separate family waiting area
- Private and confidential admitting areas
- Convenient free parking and easy drop-off
A Life Giving Opportunity: How You Can Help
Highline Medical Center Foundation has launched a $10 million community campaign to help fund construction of the new ER. Highline is not tax-supported. We are an independent, nonprofit organization created by the community and supported by the generosity of individuals like you. We need your help. Your gift is an investment in the future health and wellbeing of everyone in our community. It will assure that fast, convenient, state-of-the-art emergency care will be right here –– whenever life depends on it.
To support The Campaign for a New ER at Highline, be sure to “Dine For Highline” on Thursday, Jan. 21st, or click here or call (206) 901-8500.
As you may know, October is “Breast Cancer Awareness” month, and Burien’s own Highline Medical Center is partnering with local businesses to help encourage women to get their mammogram. Early detection is still the best protection and they want to do all they can to help women in the fight against breast cancer.
So if you’re a local/area business, here’s a chance to get some good, local exposure.
Here’s a blurb from HMC:
To help encourage local women to get their mammograms we are partenering with local businesses to help the women in our community to have an enjoyable experience during their visit. All women who come into Highline Medical Center for their mammogram during the month of October will receive free mini-spa sessions donated by local salons and schools. In addition every woman who comes in will receive a raffle ticket to win great prizes donated by local businesses and artists.
Highline Medical Center would like to invite you to partner with us to help encourage the women in our community to get their mammograms. We would encourage you to consider donating a gift card, certificate, or basket to raffle off during the month of October, or to donated services to participate in our mini-spa session event. All businesses or individuals who donate will receive a free 8.5 X 11 ad space in our local businesses book which is viewed by 30-40 local women a day while they wait for their appointments.
Highline Medical Center is proud to be a partner in health with our community and we encourage you to join us.
Please contact Janinne Walker, 206-293-6784 or email jwalker@highlinemedical.org, if you would like more information or if you are interested in donating.
Burien’s Highline Medical Center has been chosen as one of the “Top 10 Healing Hospitals” for 2008 by Baptist Healing Trust, a Christian foundation based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Highline was singled out as lucky number seven in the list. This year’s six-member selection panel reviewed hospitals coast-to-coast before making their decisions about the winners. Panel members consisted of Presidents & CEOs from hospitals and health systems across the nation.
The “Healing Hospital” recognition was created to honor hospitals and leaders that have made a special commitment to creating cultures that demonstrate compassion and quality. Each hospital honored in the list has “demonstrated extraordinary commitment to patient and employee-centered care,” according to the release.
They are also noted for embarking upon a journey of establishing a Healing Hospital environment.
In addition to Highline, this year’s recipients include:
- Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas
- Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut
- The 2006 Baldrige Award-recipient Sharp Healthcare in San Diego, California
“This is wonderful recognition and a real tribute to our staff and medical staff for all they do to support the Planetree philosophy of patient-centered care at Highline Medical Center. We are honored to receive this distinction alongside such well-respected hospitals from across the nation,” stated Mark Benedum, CEO of Highline Medical Center. “This recognition supports our mission of providing high quality, compassionate health care in a healing environment to our patients and the community.”
More information on Highline Medical Center available here.
On Tuesday, Burien’s Highline Medical Center laid off 85 management and staff positions.
CEO Mark Benedum said, “Today is an incredibly difficult and painful day for us. In order to assure our financial stability, we had to reduce 85 management and staff positions at both campuses through a lay-off. In many cases, these are individuals who have given years of service and significant contributions to our organization. This was not an easy decision and it was something I had hoped we would not have to do.”
Like most hospitals both locally and nationally, Highline Medical Center has been hit hard by the declining economy. Highline’s net revenue has been negatively impacted by both a decrease in outpatient volumes and an increase in uncompensated care. These factors led to significant financial losses in December and January and a projected loss in February.
Benedum continued, “We have taken actions to respond to the decline in the economy. While we initially believed that these measures would allow us to manage the economic fall-out, it was not enough. We cannot continue to spend more than we are earning. Continued losses of this magnitude are not an option. We have a responsibility to our patients and the community to reduce our costs and remain financially viable.”
The vast majority of positions that were eliminated were not involved in direct patient care.
Highline Medical Center first opened in 1958 as Burien General Hospital. It now includes two healthcare campuses and more than 20 clinics across Southwest King County. As the tenth-busiest emergency department in the Puget Sound region, Highline serves as the base station for the Burien area emergency medical unit. In 2008, Highline broke ground on a new ER & Patient Care unit, which is slated to open in early 2010.
More information is available at their website: www.highlinemedicalcenter.org.
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